


Line 084

by thousand_miles



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-26
Updated: 2018-07-26
Packaged: 2019-06-16 16:45:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15441381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thousand_miles/pseuds/thousand_miles
Summary: Fulfilling the following prompt: Melinda is an actual bus driver and Phil takes her bus every day even if it’s out of his way just to get to know her.





	Line 084

**Author's Note:**

> I loved this prompt and just needed to write. I hope I do it justice. I’m still getting the hang of these characters but I hope I’m getting better at it. I just love this ship and this fandom.

Line 084

Opening the door of her bus, Melinda May, glanced around before putting her backpack down and shrugging off her leather jacket. She placed it on the hanger behind her seat. This week she had the early shift. She liked that. She liked seeing the city awakening. At first the streets would be quiet with hardly any traffic and the sky was soft and light. There was a certain tranquility to it that she liked. That was of course till rush hour. It was time for the safety checks and when she was done with them she could start her shift. She first checked the outside of the bus. Everything appeared to be fine. Before she could step back into her bus her boss greeted her. 

“Good morning Melinda.” 

“Sir.” Her boss, Nick Fury, was a tall black man who always wore a long black coat, not matter the weather. The man was direct, some might say impolite, a bit harsh, but he was good for his employees. He’d given her a chance when she’d been at her lowest. This job had brought stability back into her life. She liked the routine, she liked her route. Fury had given her the route to the University. The bus was always full with students and teachers. 

“Ready to go?”

“I will be, after my final check.” 

He nodded. He liked Melinda’s accuracy and dedication to safety. She was a good employee. “Be safe.”

“I will, sir.” She stepped inside her bus and made the final checks. Everything was up to order. Looking at the clock, it was time to start her route. Starting the engine, she checked her mirrors and put the bus in drive. 

Phil Coulson was running late. His cat, Bruce, had apparently knocked over his alarm clock causing it to get switched off, which meant he had over slept. He looked at his watch. He had 10 minutes to get to the bus stop in which was normally a 15 minutes walk. There was of course another bus he could take, one that was closer to his apartment, but he refused to take that one. He would do that only in emergencies and this wasn’t an emergency yet. He grabbed his messenger bag and threw it over his shoulder. At the door he grabbed his jacket and keys and off he went. 

Just as he rounded the corner to the street where his bus stopped, Phil saw the bus approach. He had to run otherwise he was going to miss it and he really didn’t like missing his bus. Picking up the pace he noticed the bus was about to stop at its stop. He was closing the distance quickly, he just hoped that it wouldn’t drive off right in front of him. He took a quick glance at his watch and of course the bus wasn’t early. It never was. It was always right on time. Hoping he was within hearing distance he yelled. “Wait, please wait.”

She was just about to close the door, when she heard a noise. Looking in the side view mirror Melinda saw someone running towards the bus, waving his hands. She smiled a little. She knew exactly who it was. She’d been disappointed that he hadn’t been there when she’d stopped at the bus stop. He was always there and he always took the first seat to her right. She liked seeing him. She knew he was called Phil. She had overheard someone calling him that. That was all she knew about him. He brightened up her day during that 15 minutes drive to the University. They hardly talked to each other and if they did they hardly got any further than polite hellos or comments on the traffic. One stop later his friend Steve would join Phil and that didn’t give them any chance really talk. 

“Thank you.” Phil exclaimed. He leaned against the door for a moment to catch his breath before stepping inside. “I overslept.”

“No problem.” He was wearing jeans, a blue and white checkered button up shirt with a blue tie. His brown leather jacket fitted him nicely. He was wearing his black rimmed glasses today. She liked how he looked with those glasses on. His eyes were blue, blue with a beautiful sparkle in them. She often watched him talk with Steve, she could see him when she looked into the rear view mirror, and loved his gentle smile. She shook her head. She didn’t know him, yet he occupied her mind.

Taking his regular seat, Phil was glad he made it. It really would have sucked if he had to take another bus. He would have missed sitting with her. It had been two months ago when he’d first gotten onto her bus. He had missed his regular bus so he had to take a detour and ended up on line 084. Since then he always took her line. She was beautiful. Her shoulder length black hair, her beautiful dark eyes and he adored her soft smile. She didn’t say a lot, but he didn’t mind. He just liked being with her, sitting in her bus with her. He found her mesmerizing. Melinda was her name. He had overheard someone talking to her. The bus ride to the University was only 15 minutes but he cherished those 15 minutes that he got to spend with her. He knew it was sappy and foolish, but he didn’t mind. Spending only 15 minutes with her, even if it was in silence, brightened his day. Today though, his friend and colleague Steve, wouldn’t be joining him, which meant he would have some more time to talk with her.

“Bruce knocked my alarm clock off my bed side table and that switched it off. Bruce is my cat by the way, not my partner.” He felt flustered now and that usually did not stop him from rambling on. Neither did it this time. “I don’t have a partner. I’m single. I like women. Not that there’s anything wrong with being gay. There’s not. I...” He finally stopped. He sighed. Surely he could have handled this better.

“Has he done that before?” She decided to help him out. She smiled at his silly rambling. He was so sweet when he looked flustered. 

“No. He’s not allowed in the bedroom, but apparently he sneaked in.”

“And knocked your alarm clock down.” 

He nodded even though she couldn’t see it. She was focused on the road. “Do you have any pets?”

“I don’t.”

Again Phil nodded. He wrung his hands together. “I’m a history teacher.” He blurted out. He wanted to keep the conversation going, even if it was one sided. He wanted her to know about him. “I’m Phil, by the way.” He realized he’d never told her his name.

“I know.” She said softly. She parked the bus at the next stop and waited for the people to get on and off the bus. “I’m Melinda.”

“I know. Hi Melinda.” 

“Hi Phil.” Seeing the last people getting into the bus, Melinda waited for a moment. “Shouldn’t your friend be here?”

“Steve?” Phil asked. He saw her nod. “He said he’d be later today. Had some appointment.”

Melinda closed the door, put the bus back in gear and started towards the next stop. “How long have you been a teacher?” She asked him.

“Ten years. I love it. My dad had these old Captain America comics and that’s really how it started. I read comic after comic, mostly Captain America. I think he’s great. That eventually led me to getting into history and teaching. I always manage to get a Captain America reference into the classes. My students begin to groan every time I mention him, I probably annoy them, but I don’t mind. As long as they learn and take something away from my classes, I’ve done my job. That and they have to pass my class too of course.”

“Sounds like your students are lucky to have you.” He was a teacher. She’d suspected as much. The enthusiasm with which he talked about his teaching and even more so Captain America made him even more likeable. “Plus Captain America is great, but I’m partial to Peggy Carter. She wasn’t someone to be underestimated. I like that.” 

He made no attempt at all to hide his goofy grin. Melinda was a surprise. Not only did she know Captain America she knew Peggy Carter too. She didn’t seem to mind his rambling. And he just liked sitting here in her bus.

At the next stop, Phil recognized some of his students. He was surprised to see Skye get onto the bus. He’d never seen her take this bus before.

“Professor C.” Skye greeted him. She stopped next to him, making sure there was still room for the others to pass her.

“Skye.” 

“I’ve heard about you taking this bus.”

“And I’ve never seen you take this bus before.”

“True. My van broke down. Since I, of course, don’t want to miss any classes I have to take the bus. Besides...,” Skye leaned in closer. “I’ve been hearing rumors that you seem to be a fan of line 084.” 

He quickly glanced at Melinda hoping she wasn’t listening to anything Skye was saying. She looked completely focused on the road. That was good. “Best to ignore rumors.”

“Usually, I would agree with you. But this time I chose not to.” 

“Don’t you want to sit with your friends?” He really hoped she would. He didn’t know what Skye was hinting at but judging from the look in her eyes, it wasn’t anything good.

Skye looked over her shoulder. “No, I’m fine. I’ll talk to them later. But tell me Professor C why are you..”

“Miss, please sit down.” Melinda interrupted them. “It’s not safe for you to stay standing while the bus is moving.” Besides, Phil looked rather uncomfortable. Maybe if she asked her to take a seat, she would leave him alone. She’d guessed wrong. She saw the girl called Skye making Phil scoot to the side so she could sit next to him. Next stop was the University. Five more minutes and her moment with Phil would be over. Without his friend Steve he was finally talking to her and now one of his students had interrupted their moment. 

“Anyway,” Skye continued with what she wanted to say. “Why are you taking this route when line GH-325 is the shorter route? You live less than 5 minutes from that bus stop.”

“How do you know where I live?” She was right, line GH-325 was shorter, but that line didn’t have Melinda as driver. 

“I hacked your file.”

“Skye! That’s illegal and why would you do that?” 

She shrugged her shoulders. “Because I can. You still haven’t answered my question though. Why are you taking this bus?”

He glanced once again at Melinda. For a brief moment he caught her eyes in the rear view mirror. She just looked at him for a moment before she turned her eyes back on the road. “I like this line better.”

“You like this one better? The busses are all the same. How can you like this one better? What’s the difference? Ooh, wait a minute.” She figured it out. She looked from the bus driver to her professor and back again. “You..”

He was never more relieved than now for the bus to stop at the University. “This is our stop. Let’s go Skye.” He gently pushed her forward to get her to stand up. 

“No, wait.” She tried, but Phil kept her moving forward to get her out of the bus. 

With Skye finally stepping off the bus, Phil stood on the last step and turned around. “See you tomorrow, Melinda.”

“Until tomorrow, Phil.” She watched him step off her bus. She waited for the other passengers to get in. In doing so she caught Skye’s words.

“You take this line because you like the driver.”

“Skye.” She heard Phil reprimand her before she closed the door and she was off to the next stop. She smiled. Phil purposely took a longer route to the University so he could ride in her bus. She liked that. She liked that a lot.


End file.
